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Virginia Tech shooting verdict likely not the last legal word

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) - After a jury concluded that Virginia Tech officials were negligent in their actions leading up to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the state is giving strong signals of appealing the case.

The Wednesday verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit is the latest of three decisions that have faulted the university for its actions on April 16, 2007, when it hesitated at letting students know of a gunman on campus who ultimately fatally shot 32 people before killing himself.

Jurors sided with the parents of two students slain in the massacre - Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson - that officials should have known the campus was at risk without a gunman in custody. The parents said the botched response led to the deaths of their daughters.